The present invention relates to an isolator, a semiconductor device, and a method for controlling the isolator and, for example, can be suitably utilized for an isolator including first and second insulating elements, a semiconductor device, and a method for controlling the isolator.
In a case where a signal is transmitted between circuits having largely different power supply voltages, when the signal is directly transmitted by a wiring, breakage of the circuits and failure of signal transmission may occur due to a voltage difference generated in a direct-current voltage component of the signal to be transmitted. Therefore, utilization of an isolator as a circuit that transmits a signal while insulating circuits having different power supply voltages from each other has spread.
An isolator utilizing a photo coupler has been known as a related isolator, and in recent years, research on an isolator utilizing insulating elements, such as a coil (a transformer) and a capacitor, has been advanced. The isolator utilizing the insulating elements connects semiconductor chips having different power supply voltages to each other by the insulating elements through an insulating film, and transmits only an alternating-current signal by alternating-current-coupling (AC-coupling) the insulating elements to each other.
Note that as related technologies, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publications No. 2010-48746, No. 2002-222477, and No. 2010-130325, and Masayuki Hikita et al., “New Approach to Breakdown Study by Measuring Pre-Breakdown Current in Insulating Materials”, Japanese Journal of Applied Physics (JJAP), vol. 23, No. 12, December, 1984, pp. L886-L888, have been known.